News.hust.edu.cn (Correspondent Peng Yumeng) On the afternoon of February 26, Li Yuanyuan, President of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) met with Prof. Vigor Yang, a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Former Dean of the School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

Li welcomed Yang who visited HUST a second time, expressing thanks for his permanent attention and support to development of HUST. As a university under the "double first-class" initiative, HUST has opened wide to the outside world, and deepened cooperation and exchanges with world-renowned universities represented by Georgia Tech, to learn their successful experience, said him. As a U.S. senior aerospace expert, Yang has contributed a wealth of wisdom and schemes for the establishment and development, especially the internationalization of the School of Aerospace Engineering (AE), HUST. Currently HUST is seeking to go global. He hoped that Yang would continue to play a role of bridge, recommend external resources to HUST and offer advice on the development of HUST, in a bid to build AE into a model international school of aerospace engineering.

Yang said that HUST's internationalization process and plan are inspiring and anticipated. Aerospace is a future-oriented leading disciplinary field to both China and the U.S. Advancing the disciplinary construction of aerospace is not only the need of higher education development, but also the strategic requirement of national development. Establishing AE in HUST shows HUST's vision of keeping pace with the times. He suggested that HUST should seize the opportunity of "leading the future", to support the construction and development of AE in the context of "Industry 4.0" and under the drive of the "Made in China 2025" strategy, build the design innovation platform and other major platforms by means of informatization, integrate major projects and strengthen alliance with European, American and Asian universities.

Reporter: Zhu Biyong/photo

Li agreed with Yang. The two sides further exchanged opinions and views on the development planning of HUST and AE, the internationalized teaching system, the introduction of overseas high-end faculty, the establishment of Sino-foreign cooperative educational institutions and other issues. Also present were heads of the International Exchange Center and AE.

Vigor Yang is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Former Dean and a professor of the School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the Combustion Institute (CI), as well as Vice President of AIAA. He earned a PhD degree from California Institute of Technology. HUST and Georgia Tech have maintained cooperation and exchanges for more than 10 years, concluded multi-level cooperation agreements including MOU, student exchange agreement, united research center and cooperative training program, and carried out close cooperation in fields such as aerospace, mechanics, energy and hydropower.